Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1887-07-08

the. attention OF the OtileIS- II Wa VIZ
faint and far off, but 1t WAS 4 'uild, Il iaiiis
sound, Tor the niiicts he'fd II
TOO and no words can deScriDe tiIc Uieostd-
ness Of il after all those hours OF utter aw-
fui stiffness.
by Heaven. it's running water, said
Good. Come on
OF we started again in the direction from
which the faint murmur seemed 10 come,
grooming our way as before along tie rocky
walls As we went il got more ana more
audible, I'll at last it seemed quite loud III
the quiet. On, yet on; now We could uIS-
tinctly make out the unmlslakaole, swift o. %
rushing water. And yet now could there be
running water i'll the bowels OF the earth?
Now we were quite near 10 II. ana GOol,
who was leading, swUre that he could shell
it
Go gently Good" said Sir Henry, we
must be close" Splash! and cry from
Good.
He had fallen in.
Good! Good! where are yOu?' we shout
ell. in terrified distress. 70 our intense TO
lief am answer came back in choky voice.
.'Al right; pye got hold OF rock. Strike
a light to show me where you are.
Hastily | lit the last remaining match. Its
faint CLEAN discovered to rs 4 dark mass OF
water running at our feet How wide it was
we coud not see. but there. some way out,
was the dark form of our companion hang
ing on to a projecting rock.
Stand clear 10 eaten me, sung Out
Good Il must swim for il.
Then we heard a splash, and a great
struggle Another minute and lie had grab
bet at and caught Sir llenry's outstretched
hand. and We pulled him up high ana dry
into the tunnel.
NV wordr lie said, between his gaSps,
chat was touch and go. IL | hadn't caught
that rock and known how 10 SWIM. / Should
have been done. 1t runs like mIlI-r2ce,
and | could feel no bottom
Ii was clear that this would not DO: so
after Good had rested little and We had
drank or fill lrOmthe water Of the Su5ter.
ranran river. which was sweet and fresh,
and washed our faces, which sadly needed
IT, as well as we could, we started from the
banks Of this African StyX and began 10 re-
trace our steps along tie tunnel, q pOl drip
ping mpIeasantiy in front OF Us. At length
we came 10 another tunnel leading TO our
right
we may rs well take it," said Sir Her.
~, YEARLY; ''all roads are alike here; we
can only % on until we Drop
Stuwiy for long. long while, we Stumb-
led. utterly weary, along this new tunnel,
Sir Henry leading now.
Suddenly he stopped, and we bumped up
aglnst him.
Look y. he whispered, rs my brain 90
ing or is that llghtY
We stared with all our eyes. and there.
yes, there, far ahead OF lis, was faint
glmmcyIng spot, no larger than cottage
winduw-pane. 1t was so faint that | doubt
il any eyes, except those which, like ours,
had for days seen nothing but blackne5S,
could have perceived 1t at all.
With a sort of gasp Of hope, we pushed
on IN live minutes there was no longer any
doubt; It was patch of FAINT light. a MN
ute more and breath of real, live air was
tanning us. On we struggled. All at once
the tunnel narrowed. Sir Henry went on
his knees. Smaller yet it grew, till it was
only tie : l.. of a large fOX's earth-it was
earth nov, mind you; the rock had ceased.
A squeeze, struggle, and Sir Henry was
out. an 50 was Gboi and so was |, and
there anOvc lis were the blessed stars, and in
Our no>tri ) WAS tie sweet air; then sudden
ly some ding gave, aud we were all rolling
over and over through grass and bushes, and
soft wet soil.
caught at something and stopped Sit
ting up haIOed Justify. An answering
shout came from just below, when Sir lieu-
rvs Wild career had been stopped by some
level ground. / scrambled to IIlm, and found
hun unhurt though brcathleSS. Then we
looked for Good. \ little way II we found
him, too, damned IL tOTked root. He was
a good deal knocked about, but soon come
We sat down together there on the grass,
and the rryulSOu of feeling was so great
that really think we cried for joy. We had
escaped .irom ul2t awful dungeon: that w.
50 near 10 becoming our grave. --IcIy so-llc
meIclful power must have guided our foot.
steps 10 the jackal hole at the termination OF
the tunnel Cor that is what it must have
bceD. And see, there on the mountains,
the dawn we had never thought to look up
on again was bluShlng rosy red.
Presently the gray light stole down the
slopes and we saw that we were at the bot
tom, or, rather nearly at the bottom, - the
vast pit in front of the entrance L. the cave
Now We CUuld make out the dim forms OF
the three COluSsi who sat upon its verge
Dnuhf lpSa thnSp lNVful M al
we had wandered the ilyclong night had
originally been, in some way, connected
with the diamond mine. As for the Subter-
rancan river III the bowels OF the mountains,
Heaven only knows what it was, or whence
II flows, or whittier 1t goes ! for one have
no anxiety to tra"c ITS course
Lighter it grew, and lighter yet We
could See each other now, and such a speCta-
Gle as we presented | have never set eyes on
before or since. Gaunt-CheCked, hollow
eyed wrctchcs, Sinearcd all over with dust
and mud, bruised, bleeding, the long fear of
imminent death yet written on our counter
ancc, We Ire. indeed, a sight 10 brighten
the daylight. And yet il is solemn fact
Tat huOu > clegltsS was still fixed III Goods
eye. | doubt whether he had ever taken il
out at all. Neither the darkncSS nor the
plunge m the subterraueau river, nor the roll
down the SLOPE, hat been able To separate
Good and has rycglaSS.
Presently We arose, fearing that our limbs
would Silltn II We stopped there longer,
and commenced with SLOW and painful steps
To struggle up the slopmg sides ot the great
PIT. For an hour or more we toilcd stead
lastly up the blue clay, dragging ourselves
on by the help ct The roots and grasses with
which 1t was clothed.
At last it wNS done, and We stood on the
great road, On - NIuc ut the put opposite to
the CuluSSi.
by the side OF the road, a hundred yards
off, fire was burning in front Of some huts.
and round the fire were figures. We made
toward them, supporting one another, and
halting every few PAGES. Presently one of
the figures rose. saw us and fell on to the
ground. crying ont FOR fear
"lnfadoos. lnfsdooS! it is us, thy friends"
lie rose; he ran 10 us staring wildly, and
still shaking with fear.
"Oh, my lords, my lords 1t is indeed YOU
come back from the dead come back from
the deadr
And the old warrior flung himself down
before us, and clss.rd Sir iIenry's knees,
and wept aloud for jrv.